Mohamed Bin Hammam Withdraws from FIFA Presidential Race

Mohamed Bin Hammam said he did not want to see Fifa’s name “dragged more in the mud”

Mohamed Bin Hammam of Qatar says he has pulled out of the race to head football’s world governing body, Fifa.

The move came hours before the 62-year-old Asian Football Confederation chief was due to face an ethics committee hearing into bribery claims.

He said he did not want to see Fifa’s name “dragged more in the mud”.

Mr Bin Hammam had been due to stand against incumbent Fifa chief Sepp Blatter, who is also facing the inquiry. Both deny corruption claims.

Mr Bin Hammam stressed his withdrawal must not “be tied to the investigation held by the Fifa ethics committee”, pledging that he would appear before the panel to clear his name.

His decision not to run means that Mr Blatter is the only remaining candidate in the election of the new Fifa president, scheduled for Wednesday. (BBC Sport)

So the path is clear for Sepp Blatter to win another term as FIFA president and football’s world governing body once again displays it’s corrupt processes to the masses. It appears odd that Mohamed Bin Hammam pulled out of the race so that he didn’t drag FIFA through the mud when let’s face it FIFA is covered in mud anyway.

However perhaps the inquiry that is going on will finally clean the organization up once and for all, but I am not hopeful of that occurring.